


Awkward

by caidanu (Zanya)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 12:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4666806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanya/pseuds/caidanu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>repost from y!Gal. around 2012, 2013</p>
<p>Summary: After the war, they discovered an unexpected survivor who must be kept away from prying eyes and Sasuke Uchiha.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkward

Dark shadows covered most of Itachi’s face and only an oil lamp lit up a small section of the wall. Sai held on to the hot bowl, warming his hands up. He noted that there always seemed to be a chill even though he never found an open source for the cool air inside the room. At first, he had thought there might be cracks in the walls causing the draft, but now realized that the construction of the prison seemed to be the problem.

Sai leaned down and slipped the bowl of hot soup through the bars of the dark prison cell, making sure not to spill anything on the floor. A quiet “thank you” broke the silence, and he leaned back against the wall while curiously watching what Itachi would do next.

Itachi’s long hair covered most of his face, making it difficult for Sai to read his mood tonight. His clothes looked like they would need to be washed soon, and Sai wished he had thought to bring some fresh ones for him. Itachi hadn’t sent in a request for it, though so it didn’t even cross his mind. But Sai noticed how meticulously clean Itachi always seemed to be, and he knew the dirt probably drove Itachi crazy.

Sai’s feet shuffled across the floor, bumping into an eroded and lumpy piece of concrete, and he moved his foot across it, feeling the unevenness of it, prolonging the time to figure out what he would say to Itachi today. It always threw him off whenever he brought food and saw Itachi eating. Did dead men even need to eat? Regardless, Itachi seemed to enjoy the food well enough. What made a man dead or living for that matter anyway?

Sai didn’t feel the need to bring the question up or ask. There were other things he’d rather ask Itachi, though anything that had to do with Sasuke seemed a bit sensitive. But their bond seemed a bit different than the one he shared with his own brother, and Sai didn’t know if it was because he didn’t meet his brother until he was older or if there was something more between blood relatives. Or perhaps it was Itachi himself?

“Do you always watch people eat like that?” Itachi’s fingers brushed past his while pulling the bowl further into the cell.

“No, not everyone.” Sai didn’t bother looking away, not feeling any shame or awkwardness for his curiosity. “Only people I find interesting.”

“Or only people you don’t understand.” Sai watched Itachi slowly lift the spoon up to his mouth and blow to cool it down. “But having someone watch me eat is a bit disconcerting and rude.”

Sai turned his head slightly away to make Itachi less uncomfortable. He had heard rumors while in Root about Itachi, and he had always known what Sasuke’s older brother had done for Konoha. Danzou had always said that ANBU must be willing to sacrifice anything and everything in order to do what was best for the village. Sai always had a high opinion of Itachi before. And now, his opinion hadn’t changed much, but he couldn’t stop his fascination now that he had the chance to watch a legend in person.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” It felt odd to him to talk and not look at the person, something Naruto had told him more than once that seemed creepy.

He supposed staring made most people feel that way, but he enjoyed watching people, seeing and learning more about their reactions. Reading books only gave him the information. Watching people helped him put what he read together and to figure out why people reacted to their own and other’s actions.

Sai felt that gathering information was more important than sitting around and staying stuck in the past, a past he’d rather forget about at times. So he watched Itachi because Naruto had taught him there were better ways to make up for past mistakes, and sitting in a cell didn’t seem… productive to Sai. He thought if anyone had ended up in prison, it should have been Sasuke. He learned his first day visiting Itachi not to bring that up, though.

He had been watching Itachi for a few weeks now, and Sai was pretty sure he got why Itachi had chosen to sit behind bars. Maybe. He had thought he understood why Naruto had chased after Sasuke and Sakura’s involvement but realized there had been plenty of things he misunderstood. And he had thought he nailed that one right away, but, the things people did and the emotions that drove them to do it were far more complex.

Sure, Itachi had admitted he felt responsible for Sasuke’s defection, and Sai believed he was responsible, but he felt Itachi could do more good for Sasuke by being there for him instead of alone in some dark jail cell. But then again, Itachi was dead or should have died when the edo tensei ended. Somehow, he survived, though, trapped in this odd state of walking dead.

And there was the matter of Itachi’s body ceasing to function properly when Sasuke had been around. Sai would never forget the cracks along Itachi’s face and hands. He imagined the cracks had extended to Itachi’s entire body but couldn’t tell due to Itachi’s cloak and clothing. Being around Sasuke seemed to kill Itachi even further if that were possible.

Sai remembered thinking for a brief moment while they fought Tobi about how Itachi seemed to wear his clothing like a mask much the same way he seemed to hide behind half-truths and word manipulation. And he somehow found himself taking partial responsibility for Itachi until Tsunade figured out what to do about him.

It was the only way Sai could explain to himself why he had agreed to play messenger boy between Itachi and Sasuke without telling anyone else about it. He wouldn’t dare think to mention it to Naruto, who would only be disappointed and probably pissed at finding out that Itachi never read Sasuke’s letters. Not really. Sai would read them and then carefully, through half-truths and hidden meanings to relay the important parts to Itachi so he could write Sasuke back.

And he couldn’t deny that doing this made him uncomfortable, but Naruto seemed happier now that Sasuke was around, and Sasuke seemed interested in staying now that Itachi was there, and seeing Naruto content made Sai feel content. After all, if it weren’t for Naruto, he’d probably still be some nameless Root drone, fulfilling a nameless duty for the sake of no one who cared.

“You’re thinking too much again.” Itachi glanced up at him, feet sliding along the floor.

“Is that possible, to think too much?” Sai grazed his fingers across the cold metal bars, shivering slightly at the chill it gave him. He frowned, trying to work out what Itachi said to him. “I always thought thinking was how people learned.”

Itachi’s lips tugged up into a small smile and set the spoon down into the bowl like he knew of something amusing that Sai wasn’t privy to.

“Is there something funny?” He still found Itachi’s sense of humor difficult at times, though each day it became easier to get Itachi’s quick, yet somewhat subtle wit. This time, though, he wasn’t sure what he had said that would make Itachi crack a smile.

“Your outlook on life, Sai… it’s a bit different and refreshing at times.”

Sai wasn’t sure how to take that statement. He knew he saw things differently than most people and that some would consider his way of thinking strange or too blunt. No one had ever once told him it was refreshing. But he often found Itachi to say and do things that most people wouldn’t dream of, one of the reasons why Sai had yet to find his place in society where he truly felt like he fit in. Things in society were too normal and boring.

Sai noted how Itachi only said “at times” realizing that he tended to overstep his bounds without meaning to. He’d ask the wrong question or bring up something too personal and immediately an awkward silence would settle over Itachi for awhile, never bothering to mention to Sai what he has said wrong.

“You’re very quiet today, Sai.” Itachi leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes while his hand slid a letter through the cell. “This is the latest letter from Sasuke.”

Sai took the letter and slid it into his pocket; Itachi didn’t like it when he tried to open them with him around. He’d wait until he got home and read it, and then he could start to think of appropriate responses to Itachi’s questions, something that would be clear yet non-invasive. He really didn’t want to be responsible for inadvertently making Itachi go away, nor did he want to see the look of hurt on Naruto’s face after telling Sasuke.

He had spent most of his life killing for the sake of the village even though he now realized he probably killed some people who didn’t deserve to die. He wanted to be able to start doing some good not only for Konoha but also for his friends, the ones he considered family. Itachi and Sasuke didn’t fit into that category, at least not yet, but Naruto did. And helping Itachi in the end helped give Naruto peace of mind. That’s all that mattered to him. That had become his Nindo way, keeping those close to him safe and content. Naruto had helped him the most to realize there was more to life than killing and stuffing down his emotions to the point where he had forgotten how to use them.

“Would you like me to bring you some clean clothes tomorrow morning?” Sai slid his fingers across the bars once more, knowing he’d have to leave soon, but also wanting to see if maybe he could pull something more from Itachi.

“Clean clothes would be acceptable.” Itachi leaned back against the wall, and Sai watched his fingers glide slowly over his shirt. “And maybe a hair tie as well.”

“You can just send a request in for that, and I’ll bring them to you.”

“I realize that, Sai.” Itachi’s head tilted to the side, a sign that Sai had learned meant he was ready to be left alone. “That’ll be all I need for tonight.”

And just like that, Itachi dismissed him once more. Perhaps he had spoken too much. Itachi had once commented to him how silence was one of the most beautiful things. Or maybe he had come too close to figuring out an important piece to Itachi’s puzzle. Sai turned around, his hand touching his pocket where he had put Sasuke’s letter.

Sai walked down the dark prison hallway, his footsteps echoing past the empty prison cells. Perhaps he shouldn’t think on it too much, after all, Itachi was a dead man, rotting away in some small, dank prison cell with only him as a visitor. But he was a living man who felt dead inside, constantly asking questions so he had a life line, something worth grabbing onto.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for a Reader Appreciation Club challenge. I didn't have any plans on continuing it but wanted to explore this idea a bit. This is an AR canon story because this isn't something I see ever happening in the manga, just the best idea I came up with for the prompts touch and retribution. Takes place after the last Ninja war.


End file.
